Measuring high performance work practice systems: the training, information, participation and autonomy (tipa) scale

The primary aim of this research was to develop a scale for measuring HPWPs and to validate it using structural equation modelling. The study sample comprised 3046 employees of 33 organizations in the industry and services sectors of the Basque Country (northern Spain).
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Measuring high performance work practice systems: the training, information, participation and autonomy (tipa) scale International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 11, Issue 2, February 2020, pp. 248–263, Article ID: IJM_11_02_026 Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=2 Journal Impact Factor (2020): 10.1471 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed MEASURING HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK PRACTICE SYSTEMS: THE TRAINING, INFORMATION, PARTICIPATION AND AUTONOMY (TIPA) SCALE Nekane Balluerka, Aitor Aritzeta*, Arantxa Gorostiaga Faculty of Psychology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain Unai Elorza and Damian Madinabeitia Higher Polytechnic School, University of Mondragon, Spain *Correspondence Author Email: aitor.aritzeta@ehu.eus ABSTRACT High performance work practices (HPWPs) have shown positive effects on organizational performance outcomes. However, valid and reliable measures of HPWPs are lacking, as are tools that examine employee-level perceptions of HPWPs in non-English speaking countries. Thus, the primary aim of this research was to develop a scale for measuring HPWPs and to validate it using structural equation modelling. The study sample comprised 3046 employees of 33 organizations in the industry and services sectors of the Basque Country (northern Spain). Development and validation of a measure to examine a HPWP ‘system’ was carried out over two studies. In the first, and based on previous studies, we selected variables related to training, information, participation and autonomy (TIPA). Items for each variable were then developed, and their psychometric properties were analysed. In the second study, we tested a structural equation model which hypothesized that TIPA scale scores would predict perceived organizational support and organizational commitment; relationships with firm size and employees´ educational level were also analysed with the aim of providing additional validity evidence. Based on the results of the two studies we conclude that the TIPA scale shows appropriate validity and reliability indexes and can therefore be considered an adequate tool for assessing a HPWP system encompassing training, information, participation and autonomy. Keywords: High performance work practices; Training; Information; Participation; Autonomy; TIPA Scale; organizational commitment. Cite this Article: Nekane Balluerka, Aitor Aritzeta, Arantxa Gorostiaga, Unai Elorza and Damian Madinabeitia, Measuring High Performance Work Practice Systems: The Training, Information, Participation and Autonomy (TIPA) Scale, International Journal of Management (IJM), 11 (2), 2020, pp. 248–263. http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=2 http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 248 editor@iaeme.com Nekane Balluerka, Aitor Aritzeta, Arantxa Gorostiaga, Unai Elorza and Damian Madinabeitia 1. INTRODUCTION Theories of strategic human resource management (SHRM) systems sustain that a ‗system‘ consisting of various human resource practices can have considerable positive effects on an organization‘s performance outcomes (Beckmann & Kuhn, 2010). However, inadequate implementation or the use of a single SHRM activity or high performance work practice (HPWP) may show no positive effect or even have a negative influence on the organization‘s economic performance and employee outcomes (Ichniowski, Shaw, & Prennushi, 1997). Some HPWPs are synergistic, since the overall effect of the HPWP system is greater than the sum of the effects of the individual practices by themselves. However, there is currently no consensus about which practices and techniques are the most appropriate for building HPWP activities or bundle. In fact, researchers have demonstrated that there is no such thing as the best bundle, but rather a set of practices that are the most suitable in each case (Ones, Denis, & Schmidt, 2017). Most of the published research in this field has been conducted in the USA and the UK (Guest, Michie, Conway, & Sheehan, 2003), and consequently there is a strong need for additional evidence to support the strategic HPWP-performance relationship from different contexts (Gerhart, 2007). In Spain, research on strategic HPWPs (i.e. HPWP systems) is still scarce. A review of 67 studies covering HPWPs in Spain between 2001 and 2010 indicated that although the increase in the number of publications during this period was larger in Spain than in any other European country, no studies were conducted with the aim of creating and validating measures of a HPWP system (Bayo-Moriones & Larraza-Kintana, 2012). Furthermore, the majority of studies conducted in this field have focused on managers‘ perceptions or on actual or implemented HPWPs (organizational level), rather than on employees´ perceptions of these HPWPs. In this context, some studies have shown that the relationship between employees‘ perceptions of HPWPs and their actual behaviour is far from constant across organizations. This means that it is the perception of the system of practices, rather than the system itself, that is the key to understanding workers‘ behaviour (Elorza, Harris, Aritzeta, & Balluerka, 2016). In order to address these gaps in the literature and to further examine the process through which HPWPs impact employees´ behaviour and perceptions, as well as organizational performance, it is important to conduct analyses in a non-US/UK context. Given the gap in the SHRM literature in Spain and the need for reliable and valid measurement tools in native languages, the primary aim of the present ...